Palestinian fighters reject a firebrand ally to back peacemaker for President

Times Online - World: "When the co-founder of the Fatah-linked al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades — a man who is on Israel’s “most-wanted” list — speaks, people on the Palestinian street listen.

Yesterday, he and his fellow fighters threw their weight behind Mahmoud Abbas, Fatah’s official candidate to succeed Arafat as President of the Palestinian Authority in elections to be held next month.

In so doing, Mr al-Shawish, like many in Ramallah, has distanced himself from the Brigades’ natural champion, the firebrand West Bank leader Marwan Barghouti.

Opinion polls suggest a close fight. One published this week by the West Bank’s Bir Zeit University gave Barghouti the edge, with 35 per cent to Mr Abbas’s 34 per cent. Another, by the Palestinian Centre for Policy and Survey Research, gave the PLO leader 40 per cent to Barghouti’s 38 per cent."

MAHMOUD ABBAS

Born 1959 in Kobar in the West Bank
Joined Fatah at 15 and led student faction at Bir Zeit University. Speaks fluent English and Hebrew. Was a Fatah leader in 1987-92 intifada. Rejected the Oslo peace process
Played big role in the current intifada until convicted, in 2002, of founding al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, which carried out numerous suicide bombings in Israel
Serving five consecutive life terms after being convicted by Israel this year for role in attacks that killed five people


MARWAN BARGHOUTI

Born 1959 in Kobar in the West Bank
Joined Fatah at 15 and led student faction at Bir Zeit University. Speaks fluent English and Hebrew. Was a Fatah leader in 1987-92 intifada. Rejected the Oslo peace process
Played big role in the current intifada until convicted, in 2002, of founding al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, which carried out numerous suicide bombings in Israel
Serving five consecutive life terms after being convicted by Israel this year for role in attacks that killed five people

THE MILITANT MOVEMENTS

Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades: follow the principles of Fatah in that they are secular and non- religious. They believe in a “two-state solution” based on the borders as they stood in 1967. Like Fatah, they are participating in the elections. The group emerged early in the September 2000 intifada and are members of the Palestinian Authority’s security forces by day and resistance fighters by night

Fatah: co-founded by Mahmoud Abbas and Yassir Arafat and has a membership of between 60,000 and 70,000. In July, a ten-page document was issued that called for the expulsion of corrupt government officials and action to end cronyism and nepotism among senior Fatah officials. The push for reform stems from a perception that Fatah is losing ground to Hamas, which benefits from a reputation for incorruptibility in the running of its network of mosques and welfare agencies

Hamas: the Islamic resistance movement is committed to the destruction of the state of Israel. Its beliefs are Islamic, but the “common Islam” of the street. It has decided to boycott the elections to replace Arafat, though it has not called on the Palestinian population in general to do so

Islamic Jihad: It, too, is committed to Israel’s destruction. Islamic Jihad has not declared a position on the elections, but expects people to take their lead from Hamas. It is the most religious of the groups, with its principles rooted in socialist Islam